WELL, it was just going to be a sooner-or-later thing. Getting arrested is kinda like a serious occupational hazard for a politician, elected or otherwise, who belongs in the opposition camp in this country. So when I was actually arrested on Sunday, 9 Nov 2008, at the candlelight vigil commemorating the first anniversary of the […]
Columns
Rude MPs
By Hafidz Baharom(© Anouk Stricher / Dreamstime) JUST how courteous are Malaysians when speaking to one another? There’s no problem when I speak with my own friends, even if we do use a few choice words against one another every now and then. Then again, we’re not exactly elected representatives gathered in the august halls of Parliament. […]
Seni pencetus revolusi?
Oleh Zahiril Adzim dan Fared AyamAristophanes (Domain awam)KARYA sastera dan kritikan sosial pada dasarnya mempunyai batas pemisah senipis kilauan cahaya. Kedua-duanya terlalu berhubung rapat serta sentiasa bergerak seiring. Penulisan epik pertama kira-kira 4,000 tahun sebelum masihi (SM) di tamadun Yunani adalah sebuah manifestasi dan kritikan terhadap persekitaran sosio-politik serta corak pentadbiran golongan birokrat empayar itu. Ini fakta bukan trivia. Drama […]
Hard to change
By Ng Boon HooiDatuk Seri Chua Soi Lek after winning the post of MCA deputy president MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was at his lowest ebb at the start of 2008 when his affair with a woman friend was videotaped and circulated, ostensibly to bring him down. Despite the scandal of having his private […]
Images of Malaysians
By Jacqueline Ann SurinYee I-Lann (Images courtesy of Galeri Petronas) ALMOST immediately, I was struck by two observations at the Imaging Selfs: Portraits by Soraya Yusof Talismail exhibition, currently on at the Galeri Petronas until 18 Jan 2009. One was the diversity of textures, colours, and looks of each and every one of the 78 prominent Malaysian artists […]
Malaysia isn’t Medina
By Aloysious MoweIN recent weeks, I have come across two articles devoted to the issue of interfaith relations in Malaysia proposing the Charter of Medina as a model for governance. One writer described the charter given by the Prophet Muhammad to the people of Medina as a “brilliant constitution“, because “every member of that Islamic nation was […]
Who built this city?
By KW MakTHE city of Petaling Jaya (PJ) faces a myriad of problems as a result of urban development. With 97.2 square kilometres under the jurisdiction of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), the council has its hands full dealing with issues brought about by development. Lack of space (©Svilen Mushkatov / sxc.hu) High-rise development brings about […]
Wishing for compassion
By Cindy ThamWHAT would you do if you were granted one wish to change the world? Many of us associate wishes with the imaginary world of fairy tales or fiction. For religious scholar Karen Armstrong, her wish stems from a relentless imagination for a less violent and more compassionate world. With the help of Technology, Entertainment, Design […]
Mobile world
By N Shashi Kala(© Tracy Scott-Murray / sxc.hu)DO you remember the very first time you came across or used a mobile phone? Malaysia was actually the first country in Southeast Asia to introduce a cellular mobile network in 1985. The first sets I remember seeing were the Atur (Automatic Telephone Using Radio) 450 introduced by Telekom. They were […]
The battle for national symbols
By Wong Chin HuatFlags (© G Schouten de Jel / sxc.hu) UNTIL the mid-1990s, the Union Jack was a symbol of the Conservative Party in Britain. Not that the UK was founded by the Tories. It was just that their opponents, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, were more internationalist, anti-imperialist, and some even republican in orientation. […]
